Gaolhouse

The Gaolhouse, originally built as a courthouse and prison in 1784 by William Tuck, is now used as offices and an exhibition centre. It is constructed from gault brick with ashlar dressings and features a plain tiled roof. The building has three storeys and is arranged in five bays, with rusticated quoins and string courses separating each floor. The central rusticated field rises to the first floor and culminates in an open pediment, which has an arched doorway at the ground floor. Below this, there is a recessed panel that displays iron shackles and chains, and a barred lunette is positioned under the pediment. The grille pattern seen in the lunette is also repeated in the fanlight above the panelled door. The windows are sash style with glazing bars and are topped with gauged skewback arches. At the top, there is a low parapet featuring a stone achievement with a sundial arm, and the gabled roof includes internal gable-end stacks.

Inside, there is a prison yard at the rear accessed through an iron-clad lattice door that retains its original fittings. This rectangular yard is enclosed by high walls from surrounding buildings and now contains a brick cell block built in 1937. Within the west and north walls of the court, there are four 18th-century cells. These cells have round-headed brick openings that contain iron-clad timber doors, flanked by shuttered iron lattice grilles. Three of the western cells feature groin-vaulted interiors, while the northern cell has a flat brick ceiling.